Mercy and Conversion

Today’s reading from the Gospel of John tells of a woman who was caught—caught not just in the sin of adultery, but even more so, caught in God’s mercy and love.

The account provides a striking example of Jesus’ mercy and at the same time, his call to conversion. His encounter with the woman caught in adultery does not end in condemnation, but rather forgiveness, healing, and new life.

The twentieth century Polish mystic, St. Faustina Kowalska, was told by Christ that mercy is the greatest attribute of God. That says a lot when you consider that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and omnipresent. God’s mercy, as revealed in Jesus Christ, is of tremendous value to us because even when we have turned away from him in sin and turned our hearts against him, Jesus is always there, ready to extend mercy and forgiveness.

As we enter into the final days of Lent, the message of today’s Gospel reading affords us one of the most intimate and telling pictures of Jesus as our Messiah; a Messiah who comes, not to judge us in our sinfulness, but to help us rise above our own natures and enter into a healing and restorative relationship of love.

1st Reading Reflection

In this reading we see that God’s always doing something new, even when he’s calling us back from our one-hundredth infidelity to him. Every time God forgives us, he crosses the humanly unbridgeable chasm between nature and grace, between the human and the divine. God repeatedly tends to act in the same ways because he wants to remind us every day that he loves us.

So when he reminds the Israelites in exile in Babylon through Isaiah that he has saved them in the past, he uses the familiar images of the Exodus to induce hope in them. He hopes that we’ll realize that the God who has been there in the past for us will be there for us again when we need him. There’s a real newness in his coming to save us anew because our need for him is new.

The Church gives us this Scripture in Lent not just to remind us of God’s past saving acts on behalf of Israel, but to speak to our state as Christians, renewing our commitment during this holy season. We’re reminded that in Christ, the Father has done something that’s radically, definitively new. He has succeeded not only in bringing us out of Egypt or Babylon, but of bringing us into heaven.

2nd Reading Reflection

The justice I possess is that which comes through faith in Christ.” These words of St. Paul (Phillipians 3:9) are sometimes used by Protestants to indict what they believe is a Catholic reliance on works to gain salvation, rather than “faith alone.” Interestingly, St. Paul doesn’t say here that faith alone suffices to gain the reward of Christ’s Resurrection. He says that any righteousness he has “comes through faith,” but not that faith alone is his righteousness or the assurance of his reward. Paul seeks to be formed into the pattern of Christ’s death to increase his hope that he will share Jesus’ Resurrection as well. He speaks of ”straining forward” to reach the goal of heaven. True, all his suffering and striving is based on his faith, but his faith doesn’t eliminate the need to push on in the work required to achieve what faith promises: life on high in Christ Jesus.

Like Paul, we believe that grace is the source of our efforts to act on the faith we’ve been given. But it would be out of concert with Paul’s thinking to pretend that faith alone is sufficient for our salvation. We need to show forth a faith that works in love.

Gospel Reflection

The theme of the merciful love of Christ is the key point to the story, but the scribes and Pharisees intended to trap Jesus. The Pharisees brought the adulteress to Christ and asked what he thought about Moses’ command that such women be stoned. If Jesus says she shouldn’t be stoned, then he’s guilty of breaking the Torah. And the Jews were prohibited by Roman law from enforcing the death penalty on criminals. So the insidious trap gives Jesus two choices, stone the woman and be guilty under Roman law, or release her and break the Mosaic Law. The trap seems flawless. But Jesus says, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Many of the Pharisees saw themselves as sinless. If they refused to stone the woman, they’d be refusing to obey the Torah. When the Pharisees left, the rest of the crowd followed with the sense that the Pharisees were not quite as pure under the Law as they had thought. Not only does Jesus show mercy to the woman caught in adultery and escape a deadly trap, he springs it on his enemies to reveal their hypocrisy.

DISCUSSION:

In the Gospel reading, Jesus is encountering two very different types of people. On the one hand, he is confronting the self-righteous Pharisees who seek to condemn the woman and trap him. On the other hand, he encounters the woman who is caught in sin. The presenter’s reflections reveal how Jesus deals with both and how his reactions help us to live our lives as his disciples.

How are the Pharisees trying to trap Jesus?

How does Jesus’ response to the Pharisees avoid the trap and show his great wisdom?

Put yourself in the shoes of the woman caught in adultery and imagine her thoughts and feelings as Jesus approaches. Now also think of a time that you experienced sinfulness in your own life.

How does Jesus’ response to the woman reflect his mercy and the way Jesus desires to deal with your sinfulness?

PRAY & MEDIATE:

PRAYER: Think of a sin that you have committed or an embarrassing weakness that you would not want others to know about. Now imagine yourself in the position of the woman in today’s Gospel reading. Imagine that it is your sin that the Pharisees are revealing to the crowds and condemning. How would you feel in that situation? Then imagine Jesus approaching you with compassion and saying “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” How would you respond to Jesus’ mercy? What would you say to him? How would you act differently?

RESOLUTION: Jesus offers the woman in today’s Gospel reading—and all of us— both mercy and the challenge to “go and sin no more.” Talk to God about one practical thing you could do this week to avoid a sin that troubles you and turn more readily to his mercy and grace.

Reflections reprinted with permission from Opening the Word at Formed.org .Click here (subscribe for FREE, enter code: KK788T) to get the full content of Opening the Word, including video reflections, study guides and journals for the Sunday Mass readings of the year.